First experience for me with this producer
Very good! It is not austere at all as a Cornas. Actually, it is very different to other Cornas I’ve had in the past. Barely 2 hours slow-ox with no decanting. We went through half the bottle tonight holding strong to keep the other half to see how it evolves overnight. Wonderful nose which reminds me of the St-Jo Monier Terre Blanche (but less natty and no smoke/lard): fresh black and blue fruits, rose and a little violet with iron and strong mineral notes. The entry is of insolent youth (fruity, lively, mouth watering) but it is pretty full and does not lack concentration. The finish is of decent length and stays on the acidic structure and wonderful fruit. This will appeal to Syrah lovers looking for purity of fruit and tension. This can probably hold strong for another 7 to 10 years in cellar and I would be very interested to see how it evolves. However, I will have to exercise self-restraint because I find it absolutely delectable in its current state. I’ll take care of the last half of the bottle tomorrow to see what day 2 looks like.
N.B: Super weird cork. This is my first time with this. On top of the plastic capsule, the cork looks synthetic but the end of the cork is hard plastic. See picture below. Anybody ever encountered those before?
Cornelissen uses similar corks. I’ve enjoyed Coulet’s entry level syrah in the past, Petit Ours Brun. Sounds like a similar style to the wine you describe actually.
Maybe better suited for natural wines? I wonder how it lets wines age compared to natural cork, diam, nomacorc and others? I assume the hard plastic end offers a tighter seal and/or easier medium to sterilize.
Good to know for Petit Ours Brun. Wines from Mathieu Barret are not easy to find here but I’ll keep an eye out.
Day 2: Surprised. Very little variance. The nose now shows a little smoke and some red meat/blood. But overall, it’s still the same crunchy beautiful fruits and acidic backbone.
Second bottle of this, almost a year later:
Still very good. Slow-ox for three hours (épaulé). On opening, this was too sharp so time was needed. Compared to last year’s bottle, this was more red-fruited than black. The palate is similar as last time: zingy and fruity and ends on red meat. As enjoyable as the last one. My final bottle will probably not stay in the cellar for long.
I’ve seen the label occasionally but have never tried these.
The winery’s website says this is fruit not selected for the single-vineyard bottlings. It appears that they completely destem and then age all their wines exclusively in concrete eggs, with no wood. (Does that comply with the appellation rules?)
Here’s what it says about the Brise Cailloux:
Varietals: 100% Syrah
Produced quantity: 20 000 bottles
The granite soils are very degraded and clayey-silty strip for the bottom slop.
Composed of a selection of all the vineyard without the parcels selections of Billes Noires and Gore.
Yield: 35 hl./ha.
18 months maturing in in ovoid concrete tank.
This first selection of Cornas is contemporary and has to be delivered faster pleasure than a classic Cornas.
Wines will reveal about at their four years old.
To Keep 10 to 15 years.
Had the 2015 not long ago. Very good stuff.
Bought 2x2016 which i will keep until 2024 and then taste side by side with Balthazar’s San Soufre Ajouté.(2016 as well). In the name of science of cause.
No i am sure they can last a few more years without any problems. But as i have two i can taste in 2024 and then again in 5-8 years to see how the Sans Soufre Syrah’s hold up. Very exciting wines, just no track record on them yet
I think there aren’t that many appellation regulations in France concerning the material of the vessels the wines are aged in, just aging times. Those regulations that require a wine to be aged for a minimum period of time in wood are more an Italian / Spanish thing.
Indeed, the summary version of the AOC rules (AOC Cornas - Ardèche - France) seem to say, “Do what you’ve always done.”
Vinification
Wines are made in accordance with local practice.
Any warming treatment of the harvest leading to a temperature exceeding 40°C to occur is forbidden.
The use of wood chips is forbidden.
The wines do not exceed, after enrichment, a total volume of alcohol of 13.5%.
And - to my understanding - they have been using concrete vats in (especially in the southern parts of) France for ages. I wouldn’t be surprised if the first concrete vats used for winemaking purposes were built in Rhône or Languedoc-Roussillon.
(Can’t say how popular they’ve been specifically in Cornas, though)
We met Matthieu at Hospice du Rhone in 2018 and had a fun visit with him at the Cellar in May 2019. Yes, no more wood. When my wife asked him what he did with the old barrels, his response was “I use them for my vinegar program.”
For reference, we also visited Franck Balthazar the same day - only wood for his Cornas.
I visited the Northern Rhone several times between 1988 and 1994, and I don’t ever recall any concrete vats, at least not at the smaller producers (e.g., Verset, Clape and de Barjac). Certainly no concrete eggs! Dom. de Coulet is a distinct outlier, I think.
Here’s a photo of Verset in the mid-90s by Gail Skoff, Kermit Lynch’s wife. He also had large foudres when I visited, though those might have been just for fermentation.
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